Awali/2
The Awali (Homo sapiens umbra), are a race of abhumans who originated from the world of Epsilon Eridani around M4, during the Age of Terra. They are a race of shape-shifting soul leechers, and hunt psykers for sustenance. They were created by the human Binadamu Madora, who sought to create a race of people superior to humans in almost every way. His work has since mostly paid off, as these abhumans are quite powerful in their own right. Through the use of genetic engineering, the Awali have surpassed even Binadamu's original plans for them, and flaunt their power in the face of their most hated enemy, the Eldar, who they have had a hatred of for millennia. The Awali's hatred for psykers has led to numerous wars with other species, creating a universeal fear of the abhumans. They dominated the Perseus Arm to the galactic south of the Imperium of Man, and share one of the largest empires not yet conquered by the Imperium, and perhaps for good reason. Their sheer technological advantages over the Imperium ensure that any attempt the cull the Awali will lead a devestating war of attrition aganist the Imperium. Since the Great Solar War in M32, the Imperium has quarantined Awali space, not wishing to deal with the abhumans. The ultimate goal of their race is to bring the entire galaxy and their human cousins, under the wing of their empire, and bring about true unity and stability, and task they are well suited for. Today, they are part of a political union known as the Solaris Confederacy, with their brothers and sisters, the Vashti, Nokemono, and Iconians. The two share a deep hatred of the Imperium, and are working together to destroy it. History 'Creation' 'Birth of Solaris' 'The Eldar Conflict' 'Exodus' 'Rebuilding' 'The Great Solar War' 'The Perseus Crusades' 'Necron Incursion' 'The Tyrannic Incursions' 'The Awali Today' Biology 'Anatomy' The Awali biology is as complex as it is adaptable. Awali are not of the same flesh and bone in the sense of the term. Their anatomy is made of completely different components, as everything in their body is artificial, and through the heavy use of genetic manipulation, they have created artificial organs using a material known as bandium. They are typically between 1.8 to 2 meters in height, and have dark brown skin and jet black hair, which also comes in hues of blackish-purple and blackish-blue, with somewhat of a iridescence to it. They have jet black eyes and pupils (due to the nishatium), and luminescent irises, ranging from purple and red, the most common colors, to blue, yellow, and grey, caused by the excess energy produced by the nishatium in their brain. The blood of the Awali in made up of nishatium, a black fluid, which allows the Awali to regenerate limbs and organs at a rather quick pace. Awali can live without their heads, as the body stores all the memories and the personality in the rest of the nanites (though this can be changed). The head has been shown to sprout nishatium tenticles, and attempt to crawl back to the body. They have long, black, retractable tongue, which can stretch upwards to about four meters. It can cut unprotected flesh, and posion the victim with the Awali's toxic saliva (which is also acidic). The Awali's teeth are noted for being extremely sharp, and are made of nullium. They have larger canines, and can inject venom into the body of a target (a more concentrated version of their saliva). The Awali are immune to most diseases, and are appearently incapable of feeling pain. As their skin is a nullium and nishatium lattice (bandium skin), it is very resilent, and can withstand normal cuts and bruises, as well as blunt truama. Their skeletal system in made out of a metallic substance known as nullium, a black metal that can sustain tremendous amounts of punishment, and is non-corrosive, non-conductive, and non-magentic. Because of their heightened endurance, the Awali can lift two to three times their body weight, and survive falls of up to 200 feet. Due to the unique properties of their body, a Awali can produce a weapon out of their body, but as this is quick difficult without proper training, only the more elite of their kind can do this. As such, this ability is limited to certain forms of weapons. The knowledge on the internal makeup of the Awali is rather difficult to comprehend, but it is known that they have two artifical hearts, and a three devices along their spine that can restart those hearts if they stop beating. The Awali having two bandium lungs that can be acertained, and since the Awali appearently do not need to breath, they can survive in the vacuum of space. Awali do not age, as they lack the cells which slowly die as time passes. There are no known records of a Awali dying of natural causes, save for those related to war, accident, or in the rarest of cases, disease. The Awali are capable of ingesting posionous items, and even consuming other sentient beings if need be. They have perfect recall, and can see perfectly well during the night. Awali produce no waste, as everything is transformed into energy, and they do not sweat, as their bodies can adapt to the envioment, changing the body temperture when needed, also, female Awali have no menestration period. The gestation rate is somewhere around three to four months, and the process controlled by the nanites, who construct the child. Though this could take up to six months without nanites The Awali have the ability to mate with any species, and have a special gene which cause every pregancy to result in a Awali birth. This allows the Awali breed out a species without resulting to full-blown genocide, though many races with knowledge of this ability apperently see no difference in either. Or perticular note is the fact that despite the few genes in their race, the Awali have no notacible genetic defects, disorders, or major epidemics. Why this is remains unknown. 'Reproduction' The Awali, though human in a sense, do not reproduce in the same manner, though it is an option. Men and women are both capable of producing offspring, each attuned to their parents' preferred tastes (hence the reason Awali children are referred to as "manufactured goods"). There are multiple ways of producing a new children. One of these is by use of allogamy, mitosis, and asexual or even same-sex reproduction. Male and female Awali are basically the same sex, but with vastly different appearances and personalities (which are chosen). Male Awali have a set amount of eggs, though fewer than female Awali, and usually reproduce via mitosis (as same-sex reproduction was deemed to "strange" by the Awali, in which they typically take a piece of their DNA, usually a hair follacle or even a finger in some cases, and use an electric discharge produced by their body to start the growing phase. This form of reproduction takes about four to five months, and requires the full attention of the father, who ensure that the child is growing properly. The child can be male or female, a choice that the father can change at any time during growth period. Female Awali can do so in the same manner, but usually go with autogamy or asexual reproduction. A female Awali can produce sperm, though less than a male Awali, which is delievered in the same manner as it is with the males, not a thought many observers wish to dwell on. In Awali society, it is perfectly capable and acceptable for a male Awali appear female and retain his male reproductive organs. However, a few things to note would be that male Awali cannot give birth in the same manner as women. Both can produce an egg which appears as a blackish-purple, gem-like sphere, about the size of a fist. It takes a full year for it to hatch (the process in which the fluids use genetic codes to construct the child), but produces an exact replica of the parent, for the sole purpose of living on in their steed should they die, with the same personality and thoughts as them. It remains as a child until the parent dies, and then takes on their place. They recieve all of the parents memories and traits throughout the life of the parent, ensuring that the child is the same as they were. Because of the gender indifference in the Awali race, there are no sexual taboos (save a few), and certain concepts sex are unknown to the Awali. The Awali tend to view the sexes of other species with disregard, and care not of the standards drawn up by other species based on them. Many humans have been surprised to find a female Awali stronger than a male human, and far more agressive (in more ways than one), and have likewise been surprised to find male Awali capable of having the same emotions and compassion for their off-spring as human females. Additionally, there are no "official" sexes in the Awali race, as male or female is used to refer to the shape of a body, not the manner in which they reproduce. Society 'Culture' The Awali culture is quite uniform where ever Awali are to be found. They are patriarchial (in the sense that females of all other species are inferior to the Awali as a whole), generally isolationistic, and despise moral crusaders, whom their father Binadamu Madora hated with a passion. They are general accepting of other cultures, but make sure that they do not eclipse their own, usually by way of curbing the "culturally incompatiable". Much like the Imperium, the Awali have advocated human supremacy, and will not settle for being the subject of another species, friendly or not. Though not nesessarily agressive, the Awali prefer to dominate whatever they can, not a preferred trait, but one that they live with. Awali are notoriously nihilistic. During a poll by the Eldar, when asked if given the chance to take justice against on a murderer or rapist of close friend, all Awali simply stated too bad for them. Even if it happened to them, they wouldn't care. Their form of justice is sporadic and unexpected, as they will simply act on whether or not liked what happened or not. If their were displeased, then they would move to punish the person, it not they would ignore whatever happened. Because of this reason, the Awali tend to wage wars for no appearent reason other than they didn't like something. Awali do not reason in the same manner as a human would. The Awali's concepts of fear, death, hate, and love have completely alien meanings to humans. There is little a human can do to understand the mind of a Awali, and vise versa. In short, the Awali are completely unpredictable. Their emotion can flip at the snap of a finger, and have given bi-polar a new meaning. This may be due in fact to their inheritance of Binadamu's genetics, as his family was notorious for their numerous mental defects, most notably that of dementia, kleptomania, echopraxia, and schizophrenia. Though is with Binadamu's family, these disorders manifest themselves mostly in women. An interesting note is the fact that the Awali are techically sexless, as both sexes are capable of reproducing using many alternatives. Sex is only used to refer to shape of the body and the mindset they choose to adopt. Additionally, as they are not born in the same sense as humans, but rather contrusted by technological means, Awali refer to birth as being "constructed" or "manufactured". Children are referred to as "constructs", something they are rather proud of. 'Psykers' The Awali have no presence in the Warp. Why is unknown, but it is known that the Awali do not like psykers. They usually create devices to control them, or kill them outright out of spite. However, the Awali use devices or natural abilities to substitute for their lack of psyker. An example would be their ability to discharge massive amounts to energy in the form of a bolt of lightning or any other electric form, much in the same way a psyker can project a bolt of lightning from their hands. Also, the Awali are naturally psionic, though not due to the Warp, but a part of their brain which handles the thought processes. While they may not be able to equal psykers with these powers (save for the electric discharges), they are more than capable of combating them. Technology Awali technology is several millennia ahead of the the Imperium. The Adeptus Mechanicus suspects Awali technology to be somewhere in the area of 5,000 to 10,000 years ahead of anything currently in use by the Imperium. Their technology can be broken down into three categories; nanite, crystalline, and techno-organic. The cornerstone of all Awali technology is that of nanotechnology, which was responsible for their creation in the first place. It is basis of their biology, and the technology that makes all others possible. Their blood is an semi-organic, which is capable of serving as a healing agent. Crystallurgy is the second most important part of Awali civilization. Their cities, vehicles, weapons, and warships, are all crystalline constructs. They do not age, deteriorate, or corrode. Sardonikium, the element responsible for this, was designed specifically to last forever, and serve as a testoment to the Awali's creations, long after they should disappear. Finally, the techno-organic field of Awali technology is by far, one of the most under-appricated. While the inner-workings of Awali devices may look like fleshy organs, they are in fact, not organic at all. The Awali created a type of synthetic skin which appears to be like the skin of humans, but is instead an ingenius network of microscopic nullium cells, hydrated by tiny amounts of nishatium. This gives the artifical skin a glossy black appearance, and almost weightless as well. 'Weapons' The weapons in use by the Awali are quite potent and effiective in their field of death. Where as more "enlightened" civilizations paid no heed to the art of war, the Awali knew the importance of justified murder. Their dealings with the Eldar colonists have taught the Awali that not all species they were to encounter would not be so peaceful or accepting of their presence. They have since constructed devestating weapons of war, designed not to please the eyes or sooth the mind, to destroy the enemies, be they powerful or otherwise. Awali weapons are linked to the user and their family's genetic code, meaning that outsiders are incapable of wielding their weapons. The Awali's encounter with Warp beings lead to the creation of weapons that could harm the beasts. As the Awali have no presence in the Warp, they have no Warp-based technology. This serves as both a protection and a handicap, as the Awali have no knowledge of how the Warp operates, and despise psykers for such a connection. This hatred, mostly due to their encounter with the Eldar, has driven the Awali to develop anti-pysker weapons as well. Their artillery-based Raruo Cannons are known for their ability to obliterate the souls of an enemy force. 'Travel' During their golden age in M6, the Awali embarked on a series of scientific programs to seek out an alternative form of travel that would allow them to negate their lack of psykers for interstellar travel by use of the Warp. Around 553.M6, the Iconian leader, Nassor Kurenga, discovered a desolate dimension of space known as Node-Space, which was not unlike realspace in it's composition, with the added fact that one could live within it if needed. He began a series of experiments to find a way of opening and exploring this region of existence, but every attempt resulted in catastropic failure. Finally though, in 691.M6, he discovered that all of his attempts lacked the proper energy requirements to successfully get into node-space. Thus, he equipped a probe with a nishatium generator, and gave it the command to enter node-space. He watched as it opened a portal into the other dimension, and entered into it. Hours later, the probe returned, not to Nassor's residence on Nyumbani, but on it's moon, Umoja. He had successfully discovered a new form of travel for his people. Immediately, news Nassor's discovery reached Kansela Mshindi, and he paid a visit to the inventor's home. Pleased with his work, Mshindi purchased the information on Nassor's discovery, and by the turn of the millennium, the Awali had several working nodegates, allowing the Awali to begin to the slow colonization of their home system, and those near by. The nodegates constructed operated by opening two portals into node-space, one on each end of the gates. The gates created a tubular field within node-space to keep ships on track, and funnelling them toward distanation. The only downside is that the gates work on a Point A to Point B basis, meaning several nodegates networks would be required, and the loss of a major system could cut off other systems from the greater part of Awali civilization. However, the bonus of having near-instantanous travel was too good to pass up, and until the invention of the Nodedrive in M12, nodegates would serve at the only mode of interstellar travel. 'Awali Elements' The Awali have created numerous elements to help them advance their civilization throughout the millenia. None are as perverasive or as important to the Awali's way of life as sardonikium, nishatium, and nullium. These three materials are responsible for the Awali's power and near-unstoppable expansion. Sardonikium has allowed the Awali to construct warships that need no hard-points, as generators fuelled by the liquid nishatium, allowed the warships to direct enormous amounts of power toward an enemy, and cover every part of their ships with interlocking fields of fire. Nullium allows the Awali to construct weightless vehicles weighted down only by the weapons they carry. Such is the popularity of nullium, that it is used to make jewelery, weapons, body armor, and general purpose vehicles (usually by breeds who prefer cost over luxury). The Eldar are infuriated that they cannot copy the unique properties of these elements, and the Awali themselves no doubt enjoy the knowledge of this. 'Sardonikium' The blackish-purple crystalline growth known as sardonikium, is the chief building material used by the Awali for the construction of their cities, weapons, vehicles, and warmachines. It is considered to be the single greatest technological creation in the history of the Awali, surpassing even their discovery of Nodespace. It was created by Binadamu Madora in 983.M4, which was one of his side-projects next to the creation of advanced nanotechnology. Sardonikium can only be utilizied by the Awali, who only have the ability to produce it or use it safely. How it is created is unknown, even to the Eldar, but it is believed that the Awali and sardonikium are somehow physically connected. Sardonikium is most famously known to grow on the Awali's bodies naturally, giving them the sharp canines, absurdly sharp claws, and powerful body-armor their known for. Sardonikium is immune to most sonic frequencies, and doesn't crack under that type of pressure. Also, sardonikium is naturally resistant to daemonic possession and Warp attacks, giving it a fighting chance aganist the fleets of Chaos. Sardonikium can asorb most forms of energy, save for intense kinectic energy. As sardonikium is still vulnerable to kinectic energy, if enough pressure is applied to a certain spot, a sardonikium ship will shatter, blazing across space, slicing through non-sardonikium vessels. Sardonikium asorbs other forms of energy, and can redirect that energy at the attacker or any other target if guided by a Awali. Sardonikium can double as a weak source of power, and also used in military applications, like the crystalline weapons used by the Kijeshi. 'Nishatium' Nistatium is a bright glowing liquid created by the Awali to replace the oceans on their worlds, to prevent enemies from flourishing on their planets. It's toxic to all other species save for Awali, and those who have gone through the process allowing them to co-exist with Awali. It is the blood of the Awali, which turns black when exposed to air (though this is because of the nanites). Nistatium is produced in enormous quantities by the Awali for their homeworlds, giving planets bright blue or purple oceans, which create an bright glowing spectacle at night, and are extremely translucent during the day. Liquid nistatium is used as a power source for ships, vehicles, and cities, with a nullium buffer held between two pieces of sardonikium, which serves as the spherical shell in which the nistatium liquid is held. Nishatium is the primary source of power used by the Awali, and is responisible for the luminescent eyes the Awali have, as well their ability to asorb and redirect electricity (which they use as primarily in place of guns). The liquid can only be produced by the Awali, and in terms of mass-production, sardonikium refineries are the only place it can be produced safely. Nishatium is highly acidic to non-Awali, and dangerously toxic. A teasespoon of the liquid is enough to posion a thousand humans, typically ending with fatally. Why it is so toxic remains a mystery. It is used as an area of effect weapon during combat, as Awali soldiers spray the liquid on their enemies, giving them painful, seering wounds. Concentrated Nishatium can be turned into a beam weapon, the results of which vary, from cutting beams to death rays. 'Nullium' The metallic wonder known as nullium, was created by Nassor Kurega in M5 during a series of test on the by-product of the sardonikium production process. He discovered that the metal was completely free of gravity's grip, when he tried to drop it, it stayed in place, hovering in mid-air. This discovery allowed the Awali to produce weightless vehicles, with protection aganist kinectic, sonic, and psychic energy, both of which it simply asorbs, in addition to high temperture resistence and low electric conductivity which give nullium it's famous durability. Nullium is also a self-galveniazed metal, preventing rust from building on it. However, the downside to nullium is that if hit by any other form of energy, such as photonic or ionic energy, it will distentgrate. However, if given a coating of nishtium, it is perhaps one of the strongests forms of metal in the galaxy short of necrodermis. It's ease of production makes it a popular choice for decoration and station building by Awali breeds who prefer not to use sardonikium. It comes in it's natural sheery black colour, and the rarer purified gold colour, allowing the Awali to use it in a variety of areas. It's most famous usages are in the Solaris Federation fedhas, the Federal currency, and in the body armor and weapons of the Kuponda Terror Troops. Additionally, since nullium doesn't deteriorate, and is naturally resist to psychic energy, and thus Binadamu chose it as the new material nanites were to be made out of. Nullium is used mostly by the Nyota Trade Corporation (responible for exploration and expeditions), for use in the construction of their warships and space stations, which they typically place inside of black holes. The metal has allowed the Awali to put in place an emergency plan in case their civilization is threatened. The nullium dyson spheres constructed within the numerous black holes throughout Awali space are to house the 25 trillion people living within the Solaris Federation. These dyson spheres are still under construction, and only three are known to have been completed. 'Bandium' Bandium is the collective name of the artificial organs, flesh, and liquids in a Awali. It comes in several different forms (such as manii, or "sperm", and yai, or "eggs"), and is the reason the Awali appear to be of flesh and bone when in fact they none in the true sense of the word. Bandium is by far the furthest mankind has come in the field of techo-organic technology. The Awali have no blight or blemish because of it, and fear no pain or sickness. Bandium is produced using a combination of nullium and nishatium, which is combined into a fleshy lattice of would appear to be whatever it was designed for, example being a heart. All Awali has bandium organs from birth, as they are constructed using genetic codes from the parents (or parent). Of all the bandium's uses, that of the Awali's skin is the most amazing. They have two layers of bandium skin. The first is the "natural" skin of their people, which is dark brown, and is on the top. Underneath this skin is their true skin, which is a glossy black skin. It is tougher than that on the top, and serves as both an isolation from the weather, and a form of protection. Bandium produces a sweet almond-like smell, while that underneath produces a bitter lemon-like smell. This was to counter odor, and help other Awali distinguish a cut in their skin. Category:Abhumans Category:Copyright Category:Storage